The Minister for Indigenous Australians has "strongly encouraged" two Aboriginal organisations to work out a solution following a breakdown of discussions which resulted in the closure of a much-loved Sydney community social enterprise.
This afternoon, hundreds of community members gathered in protest against the closure of the National Indigenous Centre of Excellence (NCIE) in Redfern.
The crowds were ushered into the Centre's basketball court as a range of speakers took a microphone to give their passionate views on the decision, which was communicated to staff on Monday.
In what was labelled a "blindside", NCIE employees went into a meeting where they were told that operations at the fitness and aquatic centre would be finished on August 6. They were offered "small amounts" of money to accept redundancies.
Crowds gathered outside of the NCIE to protest against its closure. Source: Jonah Johnson
'Operating at a loss'
The closure comes after the New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council (NSWALC) could not come to an agreement with the Commonwealth's Indigenous Land and Sea Council (ILSC) to secure the financial future of the centre.
On June 30, the ILSC divested the property to the NSWALC, but remained in charge of the operations of NCIE Ltd.
NSWALC CEO Yuseph Deen and Sydney/Newcastle Region councillor Abie Wright attended the protest and explained their decisions to the crowd, with Mr Deen saying that a "historical analysis" of the NCIE's operations showed it had been operating at a loss for years.
"It has been debt funded to the value, more recently, of 2 million a year," he said.
The not-for-profit NCIE made $700,000 in 2020/21. That included $4.5 million in financial support from the ILSC – before that support the NCIE was facing a $3.8 million loss.
"NSWALC is a self-funded organisation, we keep our doors open through the management of an investment fund and our council said that not one dollar more should be spent on the property out of that fund," Mr Deen said.
"That fund is set up for all First Nations people in NSW ... now that might be hard to hear."
He continued, noting that most tenancies could cover the land holding cost - however, NCIE operations would need to be subsidised, but that would not be coming from the NSWALC's investment fund.
Mr Deen said they held a recent meeting at the NCIE with community members, but it was at a previous meeting where those in attendance "agreed" they would open an expression of interest to tender for the operations of the centre.
NSWALC CEO Yuseph Deen and Councilor Abie Wright behind him Source: NITV
The benefit to community
While there were no ILSC representatives at today's protest, this evening, Minister Linda Burney said she had spoken to its CEO Joe Morrison and Chair Ian Hamm, as well as the Member for Sydney Tanya Plibersek about the "beating heart of Redfern".
"I strongly encourage the Indigenous Land and Sea Corporation and the NSW Aboriginal Land Council work together to find a solution so the centre's programs and services continue to benefit the local community," she said.
Wiradjuri woman, Redfern local and Founder of Trading Blak Jarin Baigent, who spoke at the protest, told NITV News the absence of an ILSC representative spoke "volumes".
"The fact that they went away and made all of these deeply impactful decisions that saw to all of those young staff, who are here day in and day out .... sacked on the spot with no job go to go . . . speaks volumes about they value they place not only on NCIE, but the broader community," she said.
Others have expressed their concerns that they were left in the dark throughout the process, with well-respected Redfern local and Tribal Warrior CEO Shane Phillips telling the crowd this should "not be about the economy."
"It's about our future. These jarjums here they are important to us and our Elders. That's why we make sure this place works," he said.
Ms Baigent said she has attended Tribal Warrior's boxing program since her children were in nappies, her oldest now 10-years-old.
Shane Phillips addresses the crowd at the NCIE today. Source: NITV: Jonah Johnson
"The impact that that's had, the countless events that we've had here, we've had funerals here, we've had Sorry Business here, we've had birthdays, we've had so many experiences here. To have that minimised by an argument around a business case is an insult," she said.
"Why would the ILSC's focus be on a business case and the dollar value? . . . Why is the value placed on money?
Councillor Wright said the intention of the NSWALC to acquire the property was to make sure that the community could still access the site, defending it from potential commercial interests.
"We took it on as a safe space for community. We didn’t have to, it could have been sold to developers but we took it on because a lot of people in our area here, its in my region, I wanted to keep this place going," he said.
"All we can do is actually do our best to try and bring it back."'
Community members have proposed to hold a sit-in to continue the protest against the NCIE's closure
